Verdict: This is a very sophisticated but rather specialised tool for the endpoint. If you are a large organisation or one with high-value information assets, this is well worth your time. For what it does, we know of no better tool available. We make this our cloud-based Recommended product.

Verdict: If you are using CylancePROTECT this is a no-brainer. If you are not, it’s a good reason to consider it. Because CylancePROTECT is one of our SC Lab Approved products, it already has our highest rating, but we are naming the OPTICS add-on Recommended for the value that it adds ...

Verdict: If you’re looking for a threat-focused endpoint tool at an attractive price point this is worth your attention. For its ease of use and deployment, we make this our on-premises Recommended tool.

Verdict: This is one of the strong players in this field. Although it shows, clearly, a legacy of anti-malware (to the point where it still refers to “anti-virus,” even though it really addresses all malicious software), this tool is a capable contender for endpoint security in general.

Verdict: An exceptional effort on behalf of the McAfee technical support team that provided the SC Lab with the opportunity to dedicate more time to testing the product package. Overall, an excellent product, but you’ll get the most out of it as part of the entire McAfee suite managed, as ours ...

Verdict: This is a tool that you can add to your environment almost regardless of what else you are using. It not only plays well with others, such as risk management tools, it is a powerhouse in its own right. Recommended.

Verdict: We weren’t sure about this one until we acclimated to how it really works (as opposed to how we thought that it should work). Given that this truly is a beast of a different color, we are classing it by itself and a vulnerability analytics and workflow management tool and ...

Verdict: This one demands your attention. With its ability to cut through vulnerability noise, using its analytics and configuration options to its massive scalability, this works for just about any size enterprise.

Verdict: Not much to say here besides that this product is SC Lab Approved and that is our highest award. This is one of the best UTMs we’ve tested and over long periods of use it has delivered very well. We make it SC Lab Approved for another year.

Verdict: Especially for organisations with limited expertise in applying all of the things a SIEM can do to protect their enterprises, this product is a must-see. However, any size organisation can benefit by considering this as part of its security stack.

Verdict: We like this a lot, especially for SMBs, although larger organisations certainly should not rule it out as too small. It’s not. For its value and feature set, as well as the efforts to improve and keep the product ahead of the curve, we make this our Best Buy.

Verdict: Since this already is SC Lab Approved, we can’t give it a higher rating. We like this well enough that we are extending its SC Lab Approved designation for another year. It continues to be our key analysis tool.

Verdict: This is an important contender for your SOC SIEM. It will take data from just about anything you need to monitor and it includes solid third-party threat feed access. This is our Recommended product.

Verdict: This is a product with which you pretty much can’t go wrong, especially since it integrates with most products that need the log management and analysis that it does. It is sort of a SIEM’s SIEM.

Verdict: This is absolutely a world-class anti-ransomware product in a world-class ecosystem. Using the associated products, you can build out a solid security framework in your enterprise. For its completeness and solid competence, we make this our Best Buy this month.

Verdict: Because this is a rather specialised approach to the ransomware problem and, in our experience, one of a very small handful of services that get this right, we make this one our Recommend product for specialised products this month.

Verdict: Solid threat intelligence product with a prodigious collection of resources. Fits well into just about threat and intelligence analysis tool set. At a price that is hard to beat, we make this our best Buy.

Verdict: In a sensitive environment – such as a financial institution that can afford the resource – this is a very solid contender. There is a whole lot to like about it and it may be one of the most powerful tools on the market.

Verdict: We wish that Cyjax would use humans instead of computers to probe underground forums. Also, this is a bit pricey for what it offers. However, if you need open source intelligence with a bit of closed source thrown in, this is well worth your time to examine.

Verdict: We would like to see some form of auto discovery beyond what is available currently.
Verdict: this one is well worth your time, but be sure that you have everything on your enterprise identified so that the Suite can access it and collect data.

Verdict: This is an excellent tool, especially for mid- to large-sized organisations. It has everything you need and is comfortably manageable. We compare it to a sailboat – even though it’s fairly large and complex, can be sailed effectively by a single person.

Verdict: If your GRC program is missing the “R,” this tool may be for you. It handles risk as well as any tool we’ve seen – and is better than most. At £20,500, it’s going to appeal to medium to large organisations. We certainly think it will scale nicely for the ...

Verdict: This is a heavyweight general-purpose cyber-forensic tool with a lot of features, add-ons and built-in power. It has been SC Lab Approved for the past two years and we continue that for another year. Next year, at the end of its current tenure in the lab, we will present a ...

Verdict: This is for larger organisations, but if you have a reasonably heavy digital case load - especially if you already are a Cellebrite shop - this is for you. We have made various Cellebrite products SC Lab Approved in the past and for its innovative approach, solid analytics and forward-looking ...

Verdict: This is the 800-pound gorilla of over-the-network digital forensic tools. Today – and for the functionality required for the types of investigations for which it is intended – if it doesn’t have it, you probably don’t need it. It’s our Recommended product.

Verdict: Case management is a task that digital investigators tend to relegate to spreadsheets or whatever notebooks they can find. Something far more rigorous is needed and this is it. Again this year. we make Lima SC Lab Approved. We will be using it over the next year in our research ...

Verdict: NetDetector always has been a good series for Niksun, but this new version tops everything they’ve done so far – except, perhaps, for the Eagle (see our First Look review, October 2015). Again this year, we bring the NetDetectorLive into the lab as SC Lab Approved, our highest award. Watch ...

Verdict: We liked this one a lot. We’re intrigued by how it has taken forensics to the endpoint and then added next-generation analytics along with lots of conveniences, such as string and binary downloads.

Verdict: For a simple, well thought-out and executed mobile device forensics tool this one is at the top of the heap. Its capabilities are narrow and very deep. It does one thing – mobile device forensics – and it does that extremely well. We make the Paraben DS our Best Buy.

Verdict: For large enterprises, this really needs to be on your short list of potential products for DLP and endpoint protection. Kaspersky is noted for its anti-malware and this overall system carries that reputation forward.

Verdict: We love this product, even with the support cost wart. There is a misconception among everyone – except security/IT engineers – that they all are geeks and love to spend their time tinkering, writing code and manually configuring. Nothing could be farther from the truth. These folks are so overloaded ...

Verdict: LOGICnow MAX Risk Intelligence is one of the cleverest vulnerability assessment tools we’ve seen. For its straight-to-the-point functionality and its exceptional value for the money we designate this our Best Buy.

Verdict: For a large enterprise – really, no matter how large – this product is well worth your consideration. It brings the power of significant functionality with a history of reliability and excellent support options.

Verdict: While we are unsure of the actual performance – since we saw only a canned demo – this looks like a solid enterprise tool. This should not be passed over if you are considering a vulnerability management application. It is slick and very comprehensive.

Verdict: This is not expensive and one might want to consider it as a second scanning tool if one already has something else. For smaller organisations, it’s all that is needed. Nessus, the core of this product, probably is the best-known vulnerability scanner in the world.

Verdict: If you are a Tripwire shop, this is a no-brainer. If not, it still can do a lot for you and you might want to take a close look. We advise some detailed discussions with Tripwire as you select, though, to make sure that you will be able to deploy ...

Verdict: Depending on the use to which you intend to put it, this one certainly requires your consideration. There is a full-featured, 30-day downloadable trial and we highly recommend getting it and seeing if the product fits in your environment.

Verdict: If you are a small-to-medium business this product is a no-brainer. With a strong feature set for a modest price it is an excellent choice. If you are a larger organisation, by no means should you discount this one.

Verdict: This is a heavy duty tool made for a demanding large environment. It is scalable and complete with the largest list of supported connectors we’ve yet seen. For all of that we make it our Recommended product.

Verdict: For its performance, functionality and value, we are pleased to make Intel-McAfee one of our SC Lab Approved products and look forward to having in the SC Lab for a year’s worth of evaluation.

Verdict: There is nothing like this that we've seen. It's a neat idea, well conceived and executed and, if you are thinking about adding biometrics to your app, this might just be the thing to make your decision for you.

Verdict: A unique and user-friendly approach to strong authentication. This fits well in a banking environment and with other Datablink products can provide more universal authentication to such things as networks.

Verdict: This is a good choice for any size organisation, but its benefits will really shine in larger ones. If you are looking for solid strong authentication with a lot of deployment options in a simple to manage package, this has to get your attention.

Verdict: This one is, beyond doubt, a keeper. It is especially well-suited to larger environments and the company's pricing model supports that. For topnotch features, customer service and ease of use, we make Vasco's tool set our Recommended product this month.

Verdict: When it comes to universal, low cost, small second-factor authentication, there really is nothing to complain about. Every organisation considering two-factor authentication should have a very close look at YubiKey. For its low cost of ownership, easy customisation and rugged good looks we make Yubico YubiKey 4 our Best Buy.

Verdict: This heir to the original privileged account management tools is solidly worth your consideration. For its traditional BeyondTrust quality and complete integration into the BeyondTrust platform, we make this our Recommended product.

Verdict: CA typically has addressed the larger enterprises well and this is no exception. The price, feature set and assumed integration all are hallmarks of large enterprises. In that environment, worth your consideration.

Verdict: If you are looking for a tool for very large environments, look no further. Feature set, customisability and flexibility all combine for a tool suitable in just about any large, complicated enterprise.

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